THE BOOK OF MANTI
1Now, we do esteem the words of Timothy to be of great worth, for he was one of the Three unto whom the Lord gave power over death. And He told us that these same Three would have much to do with the restoration of His gospel unto our posterity in latter days. Wherefore, I have recorded their names for the remembrance of the people, and also so that they may be added to those names which we celebrate in the cold months of the year. Yea, we do celebrate their names and their doings with the stories of the heroes of our people.
2Yea, the Lord has foretold of a time when the truth shall have been restored by the mouth of His prophet, but the restoration of that truth shall have been disturbed and shall begin to falter. As also He has spoken to us of a time far in the future when our own descendents shall have become ignorant of many of their own grandfathers, as also of their ways and customs. Yea, and also He has prophesied of a time to come when even His own church and the shepherds of it shall have become a great stumbling block to the righteous. Wherefore, it is wisdom, I think, to record the names of they who will do a great work in restoring all things unto our own descendents.
3And, again, the names of the Three unto whom He gave power over death, to tarry until He comes again, are Nephi, Mathonihah and Timothy, the sons of Nephi. And Nephi called his son Nephi to honor that great prophet and father of our people. And he named another son Mathonihah by the word and will of God, the which he had received by the mouth of an Angel. And he named yet another son by that same name, even Timothy. And this he also did because of the word and will of the Lord. For Nephi was a prophet of God and he did walk and talk with God, and with His Angels, upon the Way.
4Now, this seems important to me. For, Mathonihah means “honored of God,” and Timothy means “gift of God.” Howbeit, I believe that Nephi received of the Lord insight into the callings of his sons and he named them according to that vision of their future work that was given him of Heaven. For, his son Nephi was that great prophet unto whom the Lord appeared at the Temple in the Land Bountiful when all the face of the land had changed. Lehi Mathonihah was truly honored by the Lord when He made him one of the Three. And can we not say, and who can deny, that the gift given Timothy of God was not a great gift indeed?
5And this has become a custom among the Nem – to give names pertaining to their future callings to sons and daughters, even when those names may sound and mean the same. For this reason do many of us now carry more than one name, a thing most uncommon in the past.
6Now behold, all my generations, these are the names of the Three as we knew them, and they shall tarry in this world until Christ comes again. And they shall be known by all the peoples of the world by many names, but know that these are the names by which they were known unto us in our sojourn upon this blessed land. Behold, thus speaks the Spirit to me, that in a latter time these names shall become important to those of my posterity that shall wish to return again out of Babylon. Wherefore, I do record them.
7And now I return to my account of the words of Timothy unto the Nem of Mentina. For, he did teach us much more concerning the covenants and ordinances of the temple of God, or the High Place, which must be recorded here. And he did teach us, saying:
8Now hearken unto my words, ye Nem, and observe to do the things I tell you. For, if you do, I say unto you that you will find the ordinances of the temple shall wax great in your minds and shall take up much of your thought. Yea, and your motive and intent shall be filled with service to your fellow man and you shall become great in wisdom and in the working of miracles.
9But give thought also to these things and ponder them. Many shall ask:
10Why, if the Lord made a greater sacrifice than I can make, when He atoned for all living, am I required to make what little sacrifice I can in this life? I say unto you that it is because of the great effect that sacrifice has upon the development of your soul. It is certain that neither you nor I may ever be able to make as great a sacrifice as He did. Nay, nor can we ever hope to be able to atone for sin as He did, nor bring together all the lives of men and women into one life. But we may bring our own life together with His, and this must be considered a great thing for us, even a great atonement.
11Now I would speak unto you concerning the Law of Chastity. When we consider all the covenants of the temple, it must be remembered that this one is presented in two places: First, when Mother and Father covenanted to share their work, and second, when our first parents covenanted to do the same. For the man is not without the woman, neither the woman without the man in the Lord. He would have us all covenant with each other in the same manner in which both our heavenly and our earthly parents did from the beginning.
12For we have been given a gift that is only possessed by those endowed with the power of creation. Yea, and all living things have also this gift, for it is the gift of our Mother in Heaven, even the power of procreation. By and through this great gift, we are born and have our being. Yea, it is by this gift that all living things are brought into this creation and have the opportunity to receive all the good things of mortality.
13Now, to ensure the preservation of race and kind, the Lord has made strong feelings and urges the companions of this great gift. These urges and feelings cause men and women to come together to form meaningful and eternal relationships.
14I say unto you, These things must be kept under strict control. Yea, they must be kept within the bounds that the Lord has set. Observe that, in the temple we are instructed that Pa-Elowe covenanted with Shi-Elowe, and He covenanted with Her, and they became Elohim. So must we all do if we would make our relationships eternal. I would have you also observe that Shi-Elowe did not covenant with Pa Enits Elowe, or many First Women, but He did covenant with Pa-Elowe, and she did give Him a new name, even Elohim, which being interpreted means, “They are One.”
15We are not so sundered from the Jerusalem of our past, nor from that spoken tongue that our fathers, Lehi and Nephi, spoke that the structure and form of the name, Elohim, escapes our understanding. For, it is the same in our tongue today as it was anciently – the name of a woman and one denoting more than one person. Now, from the relation of the temple, we learn that this did not denote more than one wife, for, when this was done by men without the direct command of God, great evil came upon the people.
16Consider with me the consequences of taking that which God has given and applying it outside the bounds which He has set. When men take unto themselves many wives, simply because they are able, they cause an isolation to develop between them and other men. They strengthen themselves, or so they suppose, by the weakness created in others. They raise up a generation devoted to them by blood, but not by love.
17And what of they who are deprived of that wholeness that comes of the relationship of wife and husband? They are driven into excesses and then into unnatural love.
18Let me tell you of a small group of Nem, far in the north, who have taken to living upon the ice and snow. They have made the wolves of the forests into their servants and have calmed and tamed them to do work for them. Yea, and these beasts live with them in their villages and carry their burdens and pull cargo from one place to another on sledges. And this is a great blessing unto the people, because these animals eat much the same food as the people and there is no necessity of growing provender for them, as with our cattle.
19Now, it is the nature of these beasts that only the greatest of the males that unite with the greatest of the females. Yea, and as strange as this may sound, all the rest of the pack, as they are called among the Nem of the North Country, refrain from bearing young. This is according to the commandment given unto them of the Creator.
20But the Nem of the North Country have discovered a strange thing among these beasts. When their population grows too great, the males take up unnatural ways, each acting upon other males, attempting to procreate upon them. This drives the pack apart and causes the pack to separate into two or many. And this is according to a natural law provided by the Creator.
21Now, this may sound unseemly to be spoken of in these surroundings, but I deem it of great use to you and to your posterity. For there will come times when the love of man shall become thin and his heart shall fail him. And many shall ponder why it is that men shall turn unto men and women unto unnatural love. Let the wisdom of the natural world be a guide to you in this thing. For, it is for this cause that the Lord has made certain that a like tale is set in the telling of the High Place.
22Recall that, when the strong men had taken up all the women to be wives unto them, and this because they were strong, the weaker and younger men separated themselves and were unhappy. Then did Satan enter into their hearts and instructed them according to the laws of nature, only corrupting the laws for his own purposes. And the men did exercise the natural law of strength over weakness and did engage in unnatural desires upon the weaker of their fellows. The result was that their bodies became weakened and disease did run rampant among them. Then they did rise up against the strong men, who were few, and destroyed them, taking their wives unto themselves and
23I declare unto you that evil shall be the result each time that men corrupt the right ways of the Lord.
24Recall also that Satan attempted to justify these acts by using the natural world as an ensample. Verily, he was rebuked and abashed, and so shall you be if you attempt such justification of evil acts.
25Now, as a matter of clarification and so that you will not have any cause to be confused in this; for I perceive that some few of you do ponder upon these things and wonder why it is that we find in the scriptures that the Lord did sometimes command certain men to take more than one wife.
26Hearken to my words, for thus saith the Lord in this thing. When the Lord God sees fit in His wisdom, He having all things before Him and knowing the end from the beginning, to call upon men to act in this manner, it is for a certain purpose in Him. Behold, it is a special dispensation, or setting aside of the law for that purpose only and not for a general commandment unto the children of men.
27And know also, even you unto whom this commandment or special dispensation may fall, that you shall make your covenant with her with whom you hope to work eternally. For, now you are called Pa-Elowe and Shi-Elowe. But you must become Elohim, even as our Heavenly Parents did become one in the creation. Else, there is no purpose in your existence in this world, and your creation becomes a thing of naught. I say unto you, This should not be! For you are the sons and daughters of God!
28Wherefore, it is commanded of all men and of all women to become like unto their parents. Therefore, you men of the Nem, you chose out and love but one woman to make her a help meet for you. And you women of the Nem, you chose out and love but one man to make him a help mete for you. And you two combined in your hearts and in your intentions become joined together forever, if you seek the sealing power of the Holy Spirit of Promise, which is the Holy Ghost. Then your covenant becomes Christ’s, and anything that He owns becomes eternal. Wherefore, your covenant is bound in the eternities with a cord that cannot be broken.
29So also were Adam and Eve commanded to do, and so shall you do. For, do we not walk in the very footsteps of our earthly parents? Are we not each one of us stepping on the very stones upon which Adam and Eve tread? Do we not consider ourselves respectively, Adam and Eve, when we are in the temple?
30Wherefore, I ask you, was Adam instructed to enter into a covenant with Eve or with many women. Was Eve not the Mother of All Living, or was she but one in many? Yea, I ask you to ponder seriously these things.
31Now, this all pertains to that first covenant by which our Heavenly Parents became Elohim. For, when Pa-Elowe undertook to take of the matter of the deep and make a living thing out of it, behold, she was successful. She gave unto the matter self-knowledge and it did perceive. But did it live in truth? It did not, for it could do nothing but turn and perceive itself.
32And Shi-Elowe, in His might and with His powerful will did cause the matter to organize and become bodies. Yea, He made stars and planets and moons. But what did they do thereafter? They had no life in them to do anything. The matter obeyed but could not become quickened, for the quickening is a gift of the Mother only.
33It was when the two joined their works together and covenanted one to another to join their works, that the worlds become beings filled with life and with power. And so did all living things become living.
34Now, I would have you recall the relation of the temple. Having discovered the impediment that existed when they attempted to create on their own, did the Father go back from whence He came and gather unto Himself many women? He did not. And did the Mother go back from whence She came and gather unto Her many men? I say unto you, Nay. Pay good heed unto the teaching of the temple, for it is the High Place.
35For, to a certain point, they had been privileged to create by that power given unto them by their parents. Yea, it is true that, within the limits of the Everlasting Covenant, by which they became powerful to create, they did make worlds and creations. But this was all done unto the building of the glorious creation of their parents. When they undertook to make a creation of their own, they discovered the impediment to singular, or selfish, action. They could not accomplish heavenly works for themselves by themselves, and neither can we.
36Behold, there is a law in Heaven that is irrevocable. When we undertake to satisfy our own self, our universe is diminished. When we work to the benefit of others above the satisfaction of our own designs, our own designs become sanctified in us, and our universe expands. This is the great message and meaning of the first covenant of the temple, even the covenant of marriage.
37But, when men and women take of the things they are taught by heavenly beings and modify them to serve their own purposes, they cannot expect good to come of it. Behold, evil shall result. It is so for all living things. It was so for our Heavenly Parents, and it shall always be so for us.
38Wherefore, when the Lord does command a thing that seems to be against all that which is taught in the scriptures and by the prophets, each of us has a duty to seek the guidance of the Holy Ghost in the matter. For, how know we but what He may be commanding us according to knowledge which He has but which we do not share at the time in which He may command a thing? Does this sound hard?
39Consider again the commandment given unto our father Nephi, when he was commanded to kill the wicked Laban. Yea, we must all agree that Laban was a wicked man and that he would have taken Nephi’s life should he have found him drunken in the street. But does individual wickedness justify murder? It does not.
40And we must all agree that Laban was guilty of more than simple individual wickedness. For, he would have been the instrument of the dwindling and unbelief of an entire nation. Wherefore, his wickedness is expanded greatly. But, I ask you, did his murder prevent the dwindling and unbelief of the nation? Consider the state of wickedness that now prevails among the children of Nephi in the Land Southward. I ask you who now may consider the outcome of the act to give pause and judge the truth of the matter. Did even his general wickedness justify the murder of Laban, who was among the Elders of Israel? It did not.
41What then must we consider, then, when we contemplate the action of Nephi? We must consider only that the Lord's ways are many times not man's ways and that He may, in His greater knowledge, see fit to make a special dispensation of those laws which may seem cut into the stone where we are concerned. Nephi's action was commanded by the Lord and cannot be considered murder only because of that commandment. It is upon the merit of that special dispensation that Nephi was justified and stands guiltless before the Lord.
42This did not apply to Abraham and Jacob for they were not commanded by the Lord to take more than one wife. Once they knew of the ordinances of the High Place, they repented, made a new covenant with the Lord, and received a new name from the Lord.
43You may find, from time to time, that the Lord, for His great purposes, seems to command one thing to one generation and other things to another. This is in seeming only. He does give certain special dispensations unto some individuals which He does not give unto others. Be very careful in the manner in which you do judge the workings of the Lord.
44Thus saith the Lord unto this generation: The man and the woman who conjoin themselves together in marriage, making an holy covenant one with another, and to no other, and seek the sealing of their contract by that Holy Spirit of Promise, shall be bound together by the acceptance of that covenant which is conveyed unto Him by the Holy Ghost, and that by virtue of that atonement which the Lord made for all living, for time and for all eternity, and shall become Elohim in the eyes of all living. The man shall become sealed to the woman, the woman to the man, only because of this law and this atonement.
45Anything more or less than this comes of sin, for the Lord may command otherwise for His eternal purposes. But He has promised that He shall reveal all His secrets unto His servants the prophets, and that all men and women may receive a confirmation of them by and through the power of the Holy Ghost. Let none among the Nem seek to change this law and this commandment, for great shall be the illness and the wickedness of that generation that seeks to circumvent or change the commandments of God.
46Wherefore is it rightly the first of the covenants presented unto us in the relation of the High Place concerning our Heavenly Parents. Therefore is it rightly the first of the great covenants which we must consider if we would become like unto them. And related unto this first covenant is the Law of Chastity. And it is because of this great relationship that the one law has with the other that we are requested to receive the Law of Chastity by covenant also.
47And this covenant is, if you are a man, that you swear with an oath binding on earth and in heaven that you will have no sexual relations with anyone other than the woman with whom you have made a sacred covenant of marriage; and, if you are a woman, that you swear with an oath binding on earth and in heaven,that you will have no sexual relations with anyone other than the man with whom you have made a sacred covenant of marriage.
48Now come, reason with me in this matter. In the relation of the High Place, does Adam make this covenant of marriage with any other woman than the Mother of All Living? And does Eve make this covenant with any other man than Adam?
49Behold, there shall be some who claim that they did, for they lived a very long time. But I say unto you, This comes of a lack of understanding and a misguided assumption taken from scripture. And it may even be that, in times far sundered, some may make this mistake even from that which they receive through revelation itself.
50For, it is as I said: The Lord may make, from time to time, a special dispensation of this law for His own purposes. Some may make of this special dispensation a general law, feeling justified in it because of the Lord's words and commandments unto others. But I say unto you, This mistaken understanding shall come in those days only because of the custom which shall also have waxed among the children of men to deny revelation. For, if it were not so, the Holy Ghost would most assuredly assist them in understanding the merits of the general commandments of God and that we must take care in how we apply those things whereby He does move individuals to fulfill His great purposes.
51And behold, even the prophets may make this mistake if they are not careful in submitting all things to the confirmation of the Holy Ghost. For many there are, and many there shall be, who shall receive part of the word and will of the Lord and believe that what they have received constitutes the entirety. Even I, who have received of the Lord power over death, must submit all things to the confirmation of the Holy Ghost.
52Let us reason, therefore, together. Even though Father Abraham was not justified in the taking of more than one wife, the Lord in his infinite wisdom did raise up powerful nations and leaders among those nations? In this the Lord did fulfill his promises unto Abraham.
53Behold, I would exhort you, take now this knowledge and this consideration and subject it to the confirmation of the Holy Ghostt. I would ask you to request of the Holy Ghost even a vision of Father Abraham as he is today, and tell me what you see. Do you see him alone or in the arms of his eternal companion? Or do you see him in one day with one wife and in another in the arms of other women? And in the eternities, how does he divide his days and his affections?
54I say unto you, If you have the Spirit of Revelation in you, yea, if you can claim that gift of the Spirit, then you will declare unto me the same as that which that same Spirit has shown unto me. Yea, you shall not deny that Father Abraham now resides in the bosom of eternity and is become Elohim with the wife of his bosom, even that same woman with whom he made a covenant bound by the Holy Spirit of Promise. And you shall declare unto me that the covenant that they made one to another is owned by the Lord and has become His own covenant where they are concerned. Wherefore, heaven and earth may pass away, but that covenant shall remain, because it is His own covenant pertaining unto them.
55Now, this Law of Chastity bears upon all people, young and old, married and not married. Yea, it applies unto all as a general commandment. Wherefore, teach your little ones from the time they are able to understand your voice that they must obey this law and make it part of the practice of their lives.
56For, if they do, when the time comes for them to make an holy and binding covenant of marriage, it shall not be strange to them. Yea, and if they do, the blessings of heaven shall rain down upon them, and they shall not be burdened with those diseases that follow them that obey not this commandment. Yea, and their posterity shall remain strong in the body and also in the faith. And their descendents shall be found whole in the last days and free of the deformities that are consequent in the generations of those who corrupt this law.
57Now, if the generations of they who keep and obey this law shall be free of such infirmity that follows them that disobey it, shall this not be considered a great blessing unto them who keep it? By contrast, shall they unto whom these infirmities fall, in consequence of the corruption of this covenant, not be called cursed? And how the heart breaks in the breast of they who are given the vision and revelation of all that shall befall the generations of them who fail to keep this commandment and who corrupt this law!
58For behold, even as is observed in the beasts whose generations become too close in relationship and whose strength and vigor are lost because of such mismanagement, the generations of those who corrupt this law shall be cursed with weakness in the organs of the body and in the regulation of their movement, as also in the disruption of the functioning of their limbs. And these weaknesses shall carry down in the generations until the body shall be rejected by the spirit of he who shall have been made ready to come into this life and enjoy the blessings of it. And, though that spirit shall go into another body, as shall be prepared by the way of all living, how great shall be the breaking of the hearts of those women unto whom such spirits ought to have come in the first place because of the sins of their ancestors.
59Wherefore, the Lord has decreed it unto all creation: Unto they who circumvent or corrupt this law shall come hardship, pestilence and a diminishing of the seeds. And their generations shall suffer because of them. And also unto that nation which dwindles in unbelief, such that this law shall be done away among them and forgotten, they shall also dwindle in power and might because of disease.
60For, the Lord has set natural laws to govern the functioning of the bodies He has given us. And behold, any time we seek to circumvent those laws, we bring upon ourselves and our nation the natural results of disobedience to those laws. And the natural result shall be a desolating scourge among the generations of them that do corrupt the right ways of the Lord.
61Of a truth I say unto all you who are blessed with the gift of sight, and who may look at your generations upon the Way, you shall see a day when one in two shall fall by the shaft of death well before their appointed time. And this shall be because the nation shall have forgotten these eternal truths, and they shall have trampled beneath their feet the commandments of God. Behold, let no one think that they may break the laws of God and not feel the weight of their actions, not only in the judgments of a just God unto themselves, but also by the natural results of their actions unto their generations.
62Wherefore, even in a very real and carnal sense, we do become Saviors unto our generations. For, do they not rely upon us in this matter? Wherefore, set your hearts upon them who must come after us, ye Nem. Yea, turn your hearts unto your generations. For behold, in the last days, the Lord will ask our children to turn their hearts unto us. Let us consider their day and turn our hearts even unto them also.
